• Guatemala to suspend Marlin mine operations
• Suspension requested by regional human rights group

• Gov’t unable to verify local communities’ complaints (Adds quote from statement, detail on mine)

GUATEMALA CITY – The Guatemalan government said on Wednesday it would suspend operations at Goldcorp Inc’s Marlin mine due to allegations the facility was contaminating water supplies.

The government said in a statement it would act to comply with the complaint lodged on behalf of communities near the mine by the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights, known by its Spanish acronym CIDH.

“In response to the CIDH’s request for a suspension of operations … (the government) will comply in order to meet its international treaty obligations,” the statement said.

The suspension will be ordered even though Guatemalan officials have not been able to confirm the allegations through testing, the government said. A CIDH delegation is due to visit the mine in July.

The Marlin mine produced 274,900 ounces of gold and 4.157 million ounces of silver in 2009, according to Goldcorp’s website.

The Canadian company is the sole owner of the mine.

Goldcorp officials were not immediately available to comment on the Guatemalan government’s decision. (Reporting by Sarah Grainger; Writing by Robert Campbell; editing by Carol Bishopric)